


High Hopes Low Respiratory Rates

by Goldstone_Wolf



Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), High Hopes Low Rolls (Web Series)
Genre: But they're not, Drowning, Gen, I don't know how to tag anything guys, Muck Creatures, Snow, The rest of the team is there, Whump, aka immediately, and my hope to live, because why not, into the fray we die like warlocks, near-drowning, no beta reads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23400841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldstone_Wolf/pseuds/Goldstone_Wolf
Summary: Malark Dundragon and Paddy Whitlaw are separated from the group. Things go very wrong, very quickly. TWs in tags.
Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692196
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	High Hopes Low Respiratory Rates

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve become obsessed with this fandom in a very short amount of time. Also, I’ve never played D&D (there was an attempt freshmen year at my first high school and I’d love to, but unfortunately I cannot drive and I don’t like losing characters), so hopefully this doesn’t turn out too badly. The closest I got to playing D&D was when I landed the role of Tilly Evans/Tillius the Paladin for my school’s production of She Kills Monsters.  
> Anyways, into the fray!

In the span of two hours, Malark and Paddy’s day went from bad to much, much worse.

For starters, they had been separated from the rest of High Hopes when the icy plain they had been trekking across turned out to be a frozen-over ravine. They had plunged several hundred feet before hitting a tree sticking out of the rocks, then dropped another sixty onto thick mud. As if that couldn’t be a bad enough situation, some oozy creature came squelching from the much and tried to eat them. It was slow, so they’d hobbled away as quick as they could manage.

Wandering down to the end of the ravine brought them to a dry but snowy shore. Paddy had gone down to the edge of the water to drink and refill his flask, which was where their next bout of trouble began.

Malark had a sudden feeling of something being very, _very_ wrong. Before he could react, however, something thick and slimy and vaguely tube-like wrapped around his waist. He heard Paddy scream and they were both yanked into the air. Moments later, icy black water engulfed him, and the current ripped them both away.

His head bashed against a rock, and everything went dark.

When he regained consciousness, he dimly felt a hand between his shoulders. The torrent lashed at his back, yanked at his heels and threatened to pull him under again. “Come on, Malark, you need to hold on!” Splintering wood grated against his cheek, and Malark raised his head. Paddy had managed to find some flimsy flotsam and pull Malark up beside him. The wood elf’s dark hair was soaked, plastered to his face, as it framed the panicked glaze to his eyes. With a grunt, Malark lifted his arms and clawed for grip on the driftwood. His eyes flickered forwards, and he registered that a rock was coming. They collided with something. The current spun them around, and Paddy cried out, fingers slipping. At the last second, Malark managed to wrap a fist in the back of the elf’s shirt. Paddy shouted a warning.

Another wave was coming.

It crashed down on them, pitching them both into the depths once more. For a moment, Malark kept a firm grip on Paddy’s hand. Then he was gone, swirled away by the torrential current. Malark tried to claw for the surface. The current, however, refused to release him. Playing with him like a toy, it tossed him into rocks until it settled for smashing him down on his knees in the lake bottom. Sand and silt drifted up around him, and he cracked open his eyes. The waves roared in his ears, and he saw another rear up. As it crashed down, he was forced to his knees once more, arms splayed out to his sides like he was on a cross.

For an eternal heartbeat, he could not move.

For an eternal heartbeat, the water swirled around him, raging and furious.

For an eternal heartbeat, the lake had him at its mercy, and he could do nothing.

Lungs screaming for air, he found himself trapped. Black spots danced in his vision, and he realised he was going to drown. He and Paddy were dead—there was no way around it. They would drown. The rest of High Hopes would never know what happened to them.

The water spat him back out on an icy shore.

Coughing, Malark rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky. Someone else’s icy cold fingers touched his, and he turned to see Paddy lying beside him. The wood elf’s eyes were half-open, frost already forming on his lashes, and for a second Malark feared he was dead. Then Paddy blinked, and Malark hauled himself to his feet. “Come on, Whitlaw,” he mumbled, grabbing the elf’s arm to pull him up, “need to get to shelter…wait for the others…”

They stumbled off into the woods, following what Malark vaguely guessed was south.

\/\/\/\/\/

When they finally reached a town, it was well into the night.

Stumbling into the closest inn, Malark half-carried Paddy over to the keeper. “Did anyone arrive today? White dragonborn, a little goblin, two dwarves with them?” The woman stared at him with wide eyes. “Please, we—we need to know. We’re with them.”

“Y-yes, they did. Come with me, I’ll get ye settled. Amaris!” Another woman poked her head out of what Malark guessed was the kitchen. “Be a dear and start some food for these lads. Soup and hot chocolate. Come along, dearies.”

She brought them to a room with only one bed, and Malark helped Paddy slump down on the comforter. “I’ll take the floor.” He murmured.

“Oh, no, he needs the warmth. Ye as well. Ye’ll just have to share.” Indicating a door, she added, “I’ll be startin’ a bath for ye if ye need me.”

She disappeared into the other room, and Malark sat with Paddy on the bed. They were both shivering. He guessed it was a good sign. When the woman from the kitchen, Amaris, appeared, she left a tray of food on the bedside table. “Do you want me to tell your friends that you’re here?”

Shakily, Malark nodded. “J-just don’t—just le-let them know that—that we’re o-okay, please.” She nodded, touched his shoulder sympathetically, and then left.

When the other woman returned, Malark helped Paddy to the bath, then went to the bed to grant the wood elf some privacy.

\/\/\/\/\/

The next morning, Malark awoke to a very much asleep elf in his arms.

They hadn’t fallen asleep that way. After Paddy got out of the bath and changed into a fresh set of clothes Aramis and her wife Tabitha (the innkeeper) had given them, they’d eaten. Then Malark had taken leave to take his own bath. When he returned, Paddy was asleep, sprawled on his stomach on the right side of the be. Malark had laid down on the other side of the bed, on his side.

Glancing outside, he dimly noted that the sky was its usual rare blue that it turned in the hours of predawn. Usually, he’d be up by then. Paddy snuggled into his chest more, and for a moment, Malark debated heading down for breakfast.

Pulling the blankets closer, he snuggled into his friend (if he could actually call Paddy that).

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I’d add some whump into the fandom. Also, I should be doing my chem homework right now but my maternal unit is most likely still in a meeting.   
> [Edit from 4/1/2020: Y'all this ain't a joke I did some fanart for tumblr and Malark's guy reblogged and liked it! I'd scream but if I fangirl I won't be able to work on THS!]  
> Anyways, hope y’all have a nice day! –-Goldstone


End file.
